Archive for June, 2012

Recently on MMO-Champion a list of purchasable valor point loot from Faction Quartermasters came out. I thought I’d compile a list of what Holy Paladins might consider obtaining. With the exception of Mounts(Exalted) everything else is purchasable once your at Revered reputation with Valor Points.

The Shado-panRushi the Fox can be found in Townlong Steppes, in the Shado-pan Garrison.

Paleblade Shoulderguards(Shoulders)- Plate Shoulders with Crit and Mastery. Keep these until I obtain a piece with Spirit

Hope this mini post helps in figuring out what you’ll be purchasing from the Factions for your Holy Paladin once Revered. Like many of you I’m chomping at the bit to get MoP up and Live. Until then I’ll do my best to keep you posted on changes big and small.

Just a heads up all, but I’m in the works of getting a mini podcast going so lately a lot of my time has been focused on that. Once we dive into MoP I know I’ll have a ton of stuff to talk and write about.

When I’m not battling it out with Internet Dragons I like to spend time in Battlegrounds with guildies or Random pickup groups. As of a few months back, my Holy Paladin(Main) was Dual Holy Spec. One spec for PVE and the other for PVP. When my raid team started having problems with filling our 25 man raid roster with DPS, I decided to change my off-spec to Ret, so as to help fill those DPS spots. This in turn put an end to my PVP spec since there was no way I was gonna re-spec my talents every time I wanted to do a Battleground.

This gave me the idea of leveling a new Paladin specifically for PVP. Up to 85 I leveled as Ret Spec so that I could better learn that spec for my Main. Now that my PVP Paladin is 85 her main spec now is Holy. I crafted some PVP Healing Plate Gear for her and off to the Battlegrounds I went to heal.

This gave me an idea of writing a post on healing BG’s as a Holy Paladin. As we all know there are many ways to skin a cat so this write up will be on what has worked for me.

Stats

Intellect/Crit/Spirit/Haste/Always Reforge out of Mastery

Intellect is always our number one stat priority. As of 4.3 it increases our Spell Power, size of Mana Pool, and chance of Spell Critical Strike. Since all healing gear comes with Intel, we never have to worry about not having it.

Critical Strike(Crit Heal) Spell critical heals will only heal for 150% of their normal amount. As far as secondary stats are concerned, this is where I place most of my emphasis into. This is because of my play style. In Battlegrounds I find myself moving around a lot avoiding attacks or CC’s while healing at the same time so big instant heals are important to keeping my team alive.

Spirit isthe primary attribute for mana regeneration of healers. I place this stat after Crit because the battle skirmishes(as I like to call them in here) tend to be pretty short so I don’t find myself running out of mana often. Divine Plea macro’d to a Volcanic Potion helps to keep my mana at a decent level if need be. Once the skirmish is over I can sit and recover mana by drinking a mana beverage.

Haste increases your spell casting speed. For me not much of a priority since most of the healing spells I choose to use are instant(Holy Shock, Word of Glory) or fast to begin with like Flash of Light or Divine Light(only with Infusion of Light proc). As a matter of fact I will reforge out of Haste into Crit>Spirit, whichever might be missing.

Resilience is an attribute that reduces all damage taken by players and their pets or minions. This is the bread and butter PVP stat. It is found on gear that is purchased from PVP vendors. Right now in Season 11, I’m finding 4000 Resilience to be my soft cap, making it much harder for others to damage me. Just keep in mind that come MoP, Resilience will no longer be a stat. PvP gear will have Defense on it, as well as a new stat, “Power (PvP).” Power increases the damage you do to other players as well as the healing you do to other players in PvP situations.

Mastery is not important in PVP so reforge out of it into Crit>Spirit>Haste.

Healing Cooldowns

Avenging Wrath– I like to use this at beginning of skirmish making sure I don’t fall behind in heals. Because I know attacking players will be trying to interrupt my heals, I proactively use an (Aura Mastery/Concentration Aura Combo) to prevent silence or interrupts, soon after I cast AW.

Divine Favor– Used when AW is on cooldown to increase chance of bigger heals while moving around. Also at times I will couple this with GoAK for extra big heals if were being over run and I’m being attacked from all over thanks to KillTheHealler add-on. I macro’d the Gladiators Badge of Dominance to DF for some extra Spell Power.

Guardian of Ancient Kings– I will use this cooldown during times of heavy damage to double the size of my heals. As mentioned above, works great when combined with DF.

Hands

Hand of Sacrifice– I like to throw this on the Tank or DPS flag carrier when were being attacked thus reducing damage to FC. In addition, it will break any stun affects on me by damage transfer through HoS.

Hand of Protection– I save this for ranged DPS or fellow healers taking physical damage. Occasionally I’ll use this for myself if my Divine Shield is on cooldown. Keep in mind this grants you Forbearance for one minute.

Hand of Freedom– Basically used on self or others to remove slows, snares and roots. Works great when combined with Divine Protection for Speed of Light when trying to get repositioned. Definitely used a lot while healing in PVP.

Defensive Spells

Every Man for Himself– Removes all movement impairing effects and all effects which cause loss of control. This effect will share a cooldown with any Trinkets which perform the same task such as Ruthless Gladiators Medallion. This is a Human racial talent which goes hand in hand with PVP.

Divine Protection – I use this un-glyphed to protect against physical and magical damage. When used you also get a 60% speed buff from Speed of Light talent. Speed boost is great for when trying to get away from those attacking you. Stun(Hammer of Justice) then run(Speed of Light).

Divine Shield– Paladin protective bubble that protects from all damage and spells for 8 seconds. Nice to use when being targeted and you want to get some big heals out to teammates. Keep in mind this causes Forbearance for one minute.

Aura Mastery/Concentration Aura Combo- Provides immunity to silence and interrupt effects. While defending or attacking I like to use this with Avenging Wrath right off the bat. Allows me to get some good healing in with minimal interruptions, hopefully giving DPS some time to kill off some of the opposite faction.

Crowd Control

Turn Evil– Targeted undead or demon will be compelled to flee. Damage will break this effect. I like to have this glyphed making it an instant cast with a 16 second cooldown. If the targets flee gets broken, thats where Holy Wrath comes in for the stun.

Holy Wrath– Like mentioned above, can be used to stun Undead and Demons. If glyphed can be used also on Dragonkin and Elementals. Very handy for keeping the combat pets off of you while trying to heal the flag carrier or repositioning yourself.

Hammer of Justice– Being able to stun a target for 6 seconds definitely has its place in PVP. Defensively I use this to keep someone off of me so that I can do my job as heals. Offensively works great on mages, druids or hunters whom might be attempting to slow the progress of the flag carrier or DPS attacking. I like to HoJ a character then followup with an Exorcism to put Denounce on them.

Rebuke– Can’t say I use this a lot but it can be fun to piss off casters by interrupting their Crowd Control. Thing is you must be in melee range and most of the time I’m moving around while healing or moving to get to a safe distance to heal from.

Main Healing Spells

Holy Shock- 2629 to 2847 healing to an ally, and grants a charge of Holy Power. Nice instant heal that I use every time its off its 6 second cooldown.

Word of Glory- Consumes all Holy Power to heal a friendly target for ((1928 + 2148 / 2) + 0.198 * AP) per charge of Holy Power. Big quick 20-25k heal that Crits for around 40k. If talented into Last Wordand Rule of Law, you almost have a 100% chance of getting that 40k heal.

Flash of Light- A quick, expensive cast heal that heals a friendly target for 6907 to 7749. One of your main heals to get off some quick healing to injured players. With an Infusion of Lightproc it becomes an instant cast spell.

Divine Light- A large heal that heals a friendly target for 11100 to 12366. Good for player(s) taking heavy damage. Very large heal that I cast on most injured person or FC, only when Infusion of Light procs.

Beacon of Light- The target becomes a Beacon of Light to all targets within a 60 yard radius. Your Word of Glory, Holy Shock, Flash of Light, Divine Light and Light of Dawn will also heal the Beacon for 50% of the amount healed. Holy Light will heal for 100% of the amount. Only one target can be the Beacon of Light at a time. Lasts 5 min. When following FC I Beacon them to take advantage of Tower of Radiance to get more Word of Glory free heals. If in a skirmish fight with like 4 or 5 of us I’ll BoL myself so that I never really have to worry about healing myself up.

Protector of the Innocent- Casting a targeted heal on any target, except yourself, also heals you for 2605 to 2997. I put only two points into this talent. I fully understand that this goes against the norm, however coupled with BoL on myself, I almost never have to directly heal myself and just focus on keeping others alive while dodging attacks.

Talents for Mists of Pandaria

Haven’t even tested any of these talents out in a PVP situation but these are the ones I’d probably go with.

The talents that increase my movement speed, stun an opponent, and reduce the cooldowns on my Hands seem like no brainers. The healing talents that I went with were because of the healing spells they buffed like Holy Shock and Flash of Light which are two of my primary heals. At level 90 I went with Holy Prism since the other two were an AoE and HoT heal which I feel don’t benefit our style of healing in PVP.

Just Have Fun

So like I mentioned above, Crit is my favorite stat just after Intellect because I find myself moving around while healing teammates. Its almost guaranteed that I’ll have enemy faction players on me most of the time so with more Crit comes a greater chance of a big heal from HS or WoG. I try and use a few cooldowns upfront and/or early during fights and save a few for near the end.

However it’s not just all about the healing. Everyone must work together as a team and the better communication there is between cooldowns and CC’s the better chance of a win. Unfortunately you can’t win them all so I like to go into Battlegrounds with a great attitude, determination to heal my butt off and CC some casters, and if we loose then its off to the next one. But I still have fun.

I hope this post on Holy Paladin healing in Battlegrounds was helpful and if you have any questions or feedback please leave a comment or get ahold of me on Twitter or email. Thanks 🙂

For those of you that have played World of Warcraft for a while or are tuned into the Raiding community know of or have heard of the Hardcore Progression Raiding Guild Vodka. They have been one of the top progression raid teams since Vanilla and continue to stay strong through Cataclysm. Part of their core raid team is Adam, Vodka’s main Holy Paladin. At Blizzcon 2011, Vodka was there in full force for the Live Raid between them and Blood Legion. I was lucky enough to meet and chat with members from Vodka including Adam.

Myself being a Holy Paladin, it was quite the honor to meet Adam and talk a little Holy Pally shop with him. Since then I’ve been in contact with Adam exchanging ideas and picking his brain on information regarding raid content and strategy. This finally led to an idea I wanted to do for a post on my blog. Why not do an interview with Adam and write it as a blogpost. I mentioned the idea to Adam and he agreed to do it. So we met up on Mumble and talked away for two hours.

Megacode: Most players of World of Warcraft have been playing games for sometime. How long have you been gaming and what games were most impressionable to you?

Adam: I have been gaming for a long time since I was little. Having a father who was into technology and three brothers, gaming was part of our life. Growing up we were into sports so during our downtime we were playing on our Sega Genesis. Earlier on I spent a lot of time on Mario Cart, Perfect Dark, and the James Bond game “Goldeneye”. It was here where I really took a liking to the whole group co-op gaming style.

Megacode: So can we assume that World of Warcraft wasn’t your first MMO game?

Adam: While attending college I played around like most with games like Halo and/or Call of Duty, but found that I was more into the PC MMO genre like Ultima Online and Everquest where I would group up with my brothers.

Megacode: How long have you been playing WoW?

Adam: “Chuckles”…Well a long time I suppose. I was in Beta and kept playing when it continued live so like 7 and a half years now.

Megacode: Was Paladin your first class to play when WoW went live and how long have you been Holy?

Adam: I started with a Hunter then eventually moved over to playing a Warrior. I then created two alt characters, a Paladin and Mage. It was around Blackwing Lair Raid when I decided to make my Holy Paladin my main so I’ve been playing on him for about 6 years now. Long enough to have been through all their changes.

Megacode: What made you decide to heal as a Holy Paladin?

Adam: Once Blackwing Lair came out healers were in big demand and I really liked the way Paladin plate wearers looked so I decided this was the class I wanted to heal with. I liked the flow of their big heals up front in your face and the whole Holy Light wearing plate really was cool to me. I also liked how they could throw out some DPS melee style if need be. I looked at the priest but they were more about AoE magic heals and not big single target heals which was more my style. To this day I find healing as a Holy Paladin fun, challenging and not boring.

Megacode: Do you like where the Holy spec is today as compared to before?

Adam: At first we had just a few heals to use, but then in Wrath of the Lich King we were given Beacon of Light and Sacred Shield which gave our spec more tools to use for healing. Blizzard tends to take things away for an expansion then to give them back at a later one (Sacred Shield). I actually preferred the 30 second Holy Radiance as compared to the castable one now, but I know Blizzard is just trying to balance everyone out for raid healing. Even though I preferred the days when we were just casting big heals and being used mainly as tank healers, I’ve adjusted well to our new style and feel we’re in a good place today.

Megacode: What would you have different with this class if Ghostcrawler gave you one wish?

Adam: “Chuckles”….Well lets see, I’d have to say that I’m happy where we are right now moving into Mists of Pandaria. A few years back I had this conversation with GC about changes to Divine Plea, and now in MoP with a glyph, it will be instant mana regen. Also Sacred Shield is getting a comeback. I’d also like to see Gnome Paladins, “Laugh Out Loud!”

Megacode:Will your Holy Paladin be making a return in Mists of Pandaria and if not, what class and spec will you be then?

Adam: Thats what we’ve been discussing in Vodka because Mistweaver Monk is really looking good. Unless we get more players switching to the monk healing spec, I’m 80% sure I’ll be transitioning into that role. Shouldn’t be too difficult since my alt is a Restoration Shaman and the Mistweaver Monk spec feels like a Paladin/Shaman hybrid mix. So far I like what I’ve tested out. Holy Paladins were in high demand come Cataclysm and I feel Mistweaver Monks will be the same in MoP. We shall see.

Megacode:What motivated you to start progression raiding and for how long now?

Adam: Most of my time playing WoW has been competitive pvp and casual raiding with close friends. At the end of the Wrath expansion I decided I wanted to up my game and compete in world first pve. Having been part of Vodka’s season 1 pvp team I was no stranger to them, so when Vodka needed a Holy Paladin for Cataclysm raiding they asked me to switch servers and join their ranks as their core Holy Paladin. You hear of other players having to ladder their way up guilds into a top progression team but in my case it was luck that they needed a Holy Paladin and knowing current members of Vodka from pvp so they knew my play style. Being rank #1 in pvp every season definitely helped with my transition into top tier pve. At first it was somewhat hectic but I grew into it very fast.

Megacode: What is the typical schedule for you when you’re in progression mode and how does it affect real life(family, friends, work)?

Adam: During the first week of progression we all take a week off from our daily activities to hit the content hard. We start clearing content and only take small breaks here and there when people need it. After the first week, because people have to go back to school or work, we start raiding around 2 or 3 pm est. Now because we spend a lot of time in Beta and PTR the content isn’t new to us thus allowing us to get back into sort of a normal schedule come second week. Most of us are only getting like 3 to 4 hours of sleep and it’s something you have to get used to for the weeks to come if your trying for world first. Lucky for me since I was in college, the 3-4 hrs/night sleep schedule was something I was already used to. After progression we take about a 3 week break to relax and take care of personal stuff, then we return for one night a week of raiding until next tier.

Megacode: Now besides World First, what are you looking forward to in Mist of Pandaria?

Adam: I really enjoy new expansions so when one is announced, I really look forward to its release. I get excited for the freshness that comes with a new expansion, new places to explore, new dungeons to level, and new blues to replace our Heroic Tier 4-Piece…Laughs. Because I am into watching Anime and have an interest and understanding of Asian culture, the whole Asian theme for MoP is something I’m glad they incorporated with this expansion. What I am looking forward to most is Mistweaver Monk. I’ve been able to level one up to 89 and so far I really like playing this class and spec. People have had doubts about this expansion and with Pandas, saying Blizzard is not taking this expansion serious. The last thing Blizzard would do is get complaisant and have people jump ship to another game. I have no doubts that this will be a really great and fun expansion. With this expansion I’m also looking to get back into competitive pvp with my Paladin and Monk and work on obtaining all the mounts and achievements that come with it. Not to sure if I’ll be too involved with the whole pet battles game. Perhaps that will be something in my down time. Most of MoP looks really good and well worth the wait.

Megacode: How did the most recent charity event with Vodka vs Method come about and will there be more?

Adam: It came about shortly after Blizzcon. We had such a fun time at Blizzcon’s 2011 LIVE RAID we felt that this would be fun to do and for a good cause. We met up with renowned gamer Athene who helped us set up the whole event on own3d.tv. Since there aren’t a whole lot of pve competitive Live shows out there, we decided to try and make something happen. It took a lot of time and preparation behind the scenes but once it got started it was a lot of fun. Initially it was supposed to be Vodka, Method and Paragon competing against one another but Paragon had to drop out due to time restraints. We felt that it was time to get the pve side of the game more exposure and since this expansion has been out for a while now, something new and exciting that is pve based would be a good thing for many to enjoy. If possible we’d love to do more like it.

Megacode: What is your all time favorite expansion and raid?

Adam: I really enjoyed the Burning Crusade expansion from its storyline to its difficulty of raids. It was here where I first started doing Arena’s and was ranked #1 in 5v5. All time favorite raid for me was Black Temple.

Megacode: Which raid in Cataclysm is your favorite?

Adam: I would have to say Tier 11. New bosses with a lot of new mechanics, plus we hit Heroic Modes wearing some blue gear which really had us pushing the envelope.

Megacode: Which boss in Dragon Soul was the most challenging for Vodka?

Adam: For Tier 13 the most difficult due to mechanics was Spine of Deathwing. There was so much stuff going on and one tiny little mistake would cause him to roll, wiping the raid. I think our first kill on it was like 15 min long. We had a lot of lag issues on this fight because of all the bloods on the ground. Healing pre-nerf was very challenging because of the dps checks. Because of this, healers were usually last to get any upgrades to gear so healing Spine was very challenging.

Megacode: Which boss in Cataclysm do you feel was most difficult and challenging for Vodka?

Adam: Definitely Ragnaros due to all the phases and dps checks. Over all it was an awesome well rounded fight. We had no clue that there was a last phase after meteors until we read the Dungeon Journal. We pushed him really hard through the meteor phase expecting a kill, then all of a sudden he was healed back up and standing for round 2. Very well done fight.

Megacode: What type of mechanic would you like to see in an upcoming raid?

Adam: Lets see, so many options. As crazy as it might sound, if they could weave some of the mechanics from Diablo 3 into WoW that might make for an interesting fight if it’s possible. A blend between the Diablo and Ragnaros fights, would be a challenge I’d be up for.

Megacode: What would be the route that a new raider would need to take in order to get into a top progression raid team?

Adam: Right now I would suggest working your way up the ladder and getting some experience. Right now that’s what Vodka is really looking for in our applicants. If your good enough you’ll be perfectly fine. You just need to make sure your real life schedule is in place for progression. It’s not entirely different from any other raid team except your playing with like minded people who want to be world first and are generally really good players.

Megacode: Are you playing Diablo 3 and how do you like it so far?

Adam: I sure am. I anticipated it coming out so I took a few days off so that I could enjoy some serous play time. I am really familiar with the Diablo games from playing through 1 and 2 so I don’t mind the grind of a Dungeon Crawler. The graphics update and new class characters makes it really fun. I find it very relaxing to hang out with other guild members while playing in co-op mode. What’s even better about co-op is that I can even enjoy it with two of my brothers.

Megacode: Which class did you choose to play?

Adam: First, my co-op team and I decided to configure the best group composition to level to 60 fast. I went with the Witch Doctor because it had Heroism and other good spells which I felt would contribute to us getting to 60 quickest. We got through Inferno Mode and killed Diablo the first week. Feeling that the Witch Doctor was underwhelming I switched to playing with a Wizard. Compared to Witch Doctor, I feel there’s so much more I can do as a Wizard so for now I’m content with playing one.

Megacode: Was there a race to World First Diablo 3 Inferno Mode kill? If so were you and Vodka competing?

Adam: There was a race with a few players including Athene and Kripparion whom are well renowned gamers. One of my guild members was part of Kripparion’s team but as far as my group, we were only trying to get the Inferno Diablo kill as fast as possible. Method got the World First co-op kill but it was actually a Wizard who took on the first Inferno Diablo kill, and surprisingly he did it solo. Personally I felt that the bosses in Inferno Mode were under tuned. There were some Rare Elite Mob packs that had enrage timers that were very difficult at times to take down. It would have been better if they were flip flopped giving the bosses the enrage timers and in doing so, I think the game would have gone longer before anyone got a World First kill.

Megacode: Who is your favorite Super Hero?

Adam: Not sure if anyone would guess this but Wolverine. I grew up reading the comics and he sort of grew on me.

Megacode:With the new Avengers movie out, who is your favorite Avenger?

Adam: I would definitely say Iron Man. Iron Man 1 and 2 were really great movies leading up to The Avengers. I liked the way he tinkered and engineered with things. The Engineer side of me really appreciates his character and the super hero powers he obtains from technology.

I really appreciated the opportunity to chat for a long time with Adam, and to get a better understanding of what it’s like to be in a top tier Hardcore Progression Raid Team. Just from the interview, I can see now what type of commitment and dedication it takes tier to tier when going for world first boss kills. Also, getting Adam’s input and take on Holy Paladin healing past and present was fun to listen to. I really look forward to seeing what Adam and Vodka do in future expansions from world first PvE to number one rankings in PvP.

I hope you all enjoyed this interview post as much as I loved doing it. I do plan on doing more from time to time. If you have any questions please leave comments or send me a message through Twitter or Email. Thanks,